How to choose the right color masterbatch for your production?

Color concentrates for plastics

Color masterbatch is an indispensable ingredient in manufacturing plastic products. Check our ultimate guide on choosing the proper color masterbatch for your production. 

Color masterbatch production – same way as coloring foods 

Even if you’re new to the plastic industry, you may know that those color masterbatch plastic pellets that are melted or extruded or molded into a wide range of products and things you touch every day from packaging to appliances to personal care items and even a broad spectrum of industrial parts. The thing is that most of resin is clear, so how do these plastic products get their color? In a similar way to how cake icing gets its color, a little drop of red food coloring will turn the entire batch of white icing into red icing. The same thing happens in masterbatch manufacturing. 

Color masterbatch contains a high concentration of color concentrates for plastics (pigment or dye) that is compounded in plastic resin. So if you took 98 pounds (lbs) of clear resin (colorless) and added 2 lbs of red masterbatch, you could generate a batch of red plastic compound. This happens just like food coloring, the little goes a long way. But how is this red masterbatch made? Red powdery pigment is blended in high concentration with resin and is then fed into an extruder which melts the resin and disperses the red pigment within the mouth. The combined mixture is then extruded into long strands which are cooled and cut into small pellets. 

color masterbatch

Modifying color masterbatch with functional additives 

There’s a lot more to it than just simply adding color concentrates for plastics. Color masterbatch is also used to improve the performance of plastics. It can be formulated with functional additives such as UV stabilizers, anti-stats, anti-fog, anti-counterfeit, flame retardants and more. Color and functionality are combined in a single pellet. For example, pigment can be combined with UV stabilizers for outdoor items. 

Meet the most used base resin in color masterbatch world 

Plastics have become a material of choice for packaging applications over the years thanks to an excellent performance, reasonable weight ratio and interesting properties. Historically the first process used to manufacture plastic bottles was extrusion blow molding – a process still widely used today for HDPE and PP applications. 

Injection molding and blow molding characterized by fast processing and filling were developed later to support the higher volumes required by the beverage industry. It is increasingly used for other applications such as food, personal care and home care. The main polymer used with these processing methods is PET – a polyester resin with interesting characteristics. PET provides excellent transparency and gloss. It is safe for food applications and suitable for lightweight bottle production. 

The best color masterbatch option will be chosen depending on the final purposes

The evolving landscape in the packaging market provides new challenges and exciting opportunities for the coloration of PET color masterbatch in the four main segments: household and cleaning, beverage, food and personal care products. 

Colors for beverage needs

The colors of the beverage need to be brilliant and simple while the clarity and transparency remain an important factor when choosing color masterbatch for beverages especially when it comes to water since clear bottles boost the consumer’s trust. Blues and greens stand for purity but also naturalness of the main ingredients. 

color masterbatch beverage

Colors for food industry

Cozy colors seem to be the perfect choice for plastic products used in food industry. Warm colors suggest moments of relaxation and endougance. The color masterbatch for the food category all tend in a warm direction whether it is yellow or red. Both of which are known to stimulate the appetite.

color masterbatch food industry

Colors for personal care products

In personal care section, the deal on color concentrates for plastics is falling off near to the with pastels and mysterious dark colors which represent the balancing act of consumers in today’s busy world. The urban dark colors stay solid, serious and yet enigmatic while the softer colors offer a caring and light hearted feeling.

color masterbatch personal care products

Colors for household appliances

Young, bold, dynamic and attention grabbing are the keywords for chosing right color masterbatch for household and cleaning products. The bright pink, lilac, orange and green represent scented flowers in a modern way while the solid denim blue and dark gold are considered as suitable to any entries for this competitive market.

color concentrates for plastics household appliances

color masterbatch that is very diverse with various color series. We hope our color concentrates for plastics catalog will be a source of inspiration for designers and plastic professionals. It demonstrates what can be achieved in terms of coloration with a reliable partner like EuP. All the colors displayed in the catalog are available in the standard granulate masterbatch form. Contact EuP’s experts to experience the diversity of the catalog and find the right color for your application.